British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday vowed to contest a vote of confidence in her leadership, warning that her removal would delay or possibly postpone the UK’s exit from the EU.
In a direct appeal to fellow Conservative lawmakers, who were set to decide her future last night, she said a new prime minister would have to scrap or extend Article 50, the mechanism taking the UK out of the EU on 29 March, “delaying or even stopping Brexit.”
She also warned that her removal would hand the initiative to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Photo: Reuters
Her comments followed yesterday morning’s announcement that the required 48 letters calling for a leadership contest were delivered to Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers.
A ballot was due to be held between 6pm and 8pm last night, and a result was expected to be declared by 10pm.
Brady told reporters that the threshold for confidence letters had clearly been exceeded during the course of the previous day, but described the situation as “fluid” and gave a strong hint that confidence letters had been withdrawn as well as submitted.
He said he informed the prime minister at 9:30pm on Tuesday, once she returned from Brussels.
He had spoken to the prime minister to consult with her about the timing of the confidence vote and she had expressed a desire for it to happen as soon as possible, Brady said.
Speaking on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, May said her removal would put Brexit at risk.
“A change of leadership in the Conservative Party now would put our country’s future at risk and create uncertainty when we can least afford it,” she said. “A new leader wouldn’t be in place by the 21 January legal deadline, so a leadership election risks handing control of the Brexit negotiations to opposition MPs in parliament. The new leader wouldn’t have time to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement and get the legislation through parliament by 29 March, so one of their first acts would have to be extending or rescinding Article 50, delaying or even stopping Brexit when people want us to get on with it.”
She said that she would contest the vote “with everything I’ve got.”
May said that any attempt to replace her would not increase the party’s majority.
“A leadership election would not change the fundamentals of the negotiation, or the parliamentary arithmetic,” she said. “Weeks spent tearing ourselves apart will only create more division just as we should be standing together to serve our country.”
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)